Friday, August 31, 2012

Things have been super quiet around here. I decide to take a little break as summer winds down to soak up the last of the quiet do nothing days. I'll be back to regularly posting lots of fun things in the next week or two after we settle into the school year. I love fall :)

We've been busy...

eating blue lollipops.

picking things up with our toes

painting our toes...Blue By! by Sally Hansen InstaDry

eating really well. I go back to my Weight Wacthers mtg next week! I've lost 10 lbs since May and somehow managed to keep it off over the summer! Only 4 more to go!

working on custom orders with pretty vintage inspired fabrics

doing my best to live by this verse as I navigate the ins and outs of being a handmade shop owner and blogger. My heart gets ugly when I try to compete with other people or gravitate towards that "look at me! look what I made!" attitude. So much of what I do is about self promotion, but I'm trying to learn how to do that in a kind and humble way.

promoting awesome shops like Poofy Cheeks! My friend Kelsey is quitting her day job to go full-time with her adorable handmade shop! You should check it out because she's rad and I heart her.

Well that's what we've been up to. The blog has been quiet, but I'm still posting little things here and there on Instagram so you can follow along if you'd like. I'm @sewchatty.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Hi friends! I am so excited to introduce you to Kelsey from Poofy Cheeks!

Kelsey is one of my blog friends that I met at Snap last year! She is expecting her third baby very soon and with the arrival of this little one, she hopes to quit her day job and go full time with Poofy Cheeks: her blog and handmade shop!!!!

These are absolutely the best hair ties ever!!! The don't leave a crease in your hair and BONUS...they look cute on your wrist too! You know for when you have your hair down but in five minutes you might change your mind? Tons of colors to choose from too!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Hi there! I hope you had a great weekend! Thanks to everyone who came by ant linked up last week!

The most clicked link was...

...this sweet this little dress linked up by Elegance and Elephants. Really great tutorial for all of you with little girls!

Alright party people...are you ready for this week's link up???

Let’s get to it! I'll be featuring
my favorite links on the Facebook Fan Page throughout the week! Are you a
fan? I also try to Pin my favorites to Pinterest. The top clicked link will be featured during next weeks party!

{Just a few party guidelines}

Link up your crafts, recipes, home decor....anything that has been made by you! {Multiple links to different posts are fine}

Link back here by grabbing
the super cute button on my sidebar and posting it either in your post
or somewhere on your blog to let others know you've joined the party!

If you see something you like, click on it and go leave them a comment. Everyone loves comments!

Lastly, feel free to help me
spread the word about Made with Love Monday! Follow me on Twitter {just
click on my little Twitter button} and tweet about the party. Make sure to @ tag me so I can RT you!

Friday, August 17, 2012

Hi there! Summer is starting to wind down and I'm sad and happy all at the same time. Sad that the slow paced days of doing whatever we want are ending but thrilled to be getting back to routine. I thrive on routine. We have two weeks left of summer break so I plan on packing it full with trips to the pool, library, beach, movies, & Disneyland!

It's been a while since I linked up with Jeanette so I thought I would today so you all can see some of the things that have been keeping me from the blog this week...

Well, it's official. I am now an iPhone person. It's been a long time coming friends and I can't tell you how happy I am to be out of Android rage. Our old phones had become SO glitchy and horrible. Now, it's pure bliss. Having a phone that actually works and does everything I need it to is blowing my mind!

I've spent way too much time playing with it this week and making sure Ihave everything set up the right way. I'm also taking app recommendations if you'd like to pass anything along :)

The gift cards were a gift from Grammy. Carter turned 8 this week. EIGHT. I can't even beleive it. I just love him so much. We had a lot of fun making him feel special in his big day!

He woke up saying "I think I have become 8." Then he looked in the morror for a while apparantly trying to figure out if 8 looked any different than 7. He's so funny!

He got sprinkles on his waffle. When it's your birthday, you can put sprinkles on whatever you want.

We spent a few hours at Disneyland and met up with some of his lady friends. He's into older women. I'm keeping an eye on that.

The birthday festivites continued at Chuck E. Cheese with some of our close friends.

And no birthday is complete without a Funfetti cupcake with homemade chocolate frosting! I made the cupcake flags using Made By Rae's tutorial. Quick and easy and they came out so cute! I actually do have that sticker maker she uses, but decided not to fuss with it and just used the scrapbook paper and glue stick method. I love them!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Hi friends! I hope you had a lovely weekend! We're back from of week of camping at Campland on the Bay in San Diego! Each year our church does a Family Camp there and this year there were about 80 of us that went!

{yayee for grainy cell phone pictures...}

See how I decorated my trailer all cute :) I am now addicted to making pom pom garland. That was stung on our fancy menu board. We got a little silly and went all out "glamping" style! We had such a great trip! Can't wait for next year!

A big thanks to everyone that linked up last week! The most clicked link was...

Let’s get to it! I'll be featuring
my favorite links on the Facebook Fan Page throughout the week! Are you a
fan? I also try to Pin my favorites to Pinterest. The top clicked link will be featured during next weeks party!

{Just a few party guidelines}

Link up your crafts, recipes, home decor....anything that has been made by you! {Multiple links to different posts are fine}

Link back here by grabbing
the super cute button on my sidebar and posting it either in your post
or somewhere on your blog to let others know you've joined the party!

If you see something you like, click on it and go leave them a comment. Everyone loves comments!

Lastly, feel free to help me
spread the word about Made with Love Monday! Follow me on Twitter {just
click on my little Twitter button} and tweet about the party. Make sure to @ tag me so I can RT you!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

A few weeks back, we re-upped our Costco membership. I picked up the back of frozen salmon filets and have had fun coming up with tasty recipes to use it up! Here is our favorite so far...

I didn't take pics along the way, but this is a really simple meal to throw together so you shouldn't have any problem following along. This was just enough for my husband and I, but if you are feeding more people, plan accordingly :)

Ingredients:

1 Costco salmon fillet, thawed

olive oil

lime

salt/pepper

4 corn tortillas, fried cripsy

Costco spring salad mix

Cilantro salad dressing from Trader Joe's

avocado

tomato

queso fresco

Directions:

My husband fried up the tortillas while I cooked the salmon. Teamwork woot! Heat up a tbsp of olive oil in your skillet. Place the salmon filet in a shallow dish and squeeze some lime juice on one side. Season with salt and pepper. Place seasoned side down in the skillet. Season the side now facing up with the lime juice salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes on the first side, flip it over and cook 3 minutes on the second side or unitl cooked through.

While your salmon is cooling, toss some of the spring mix with the TJ's cilantro dressing. Cut up your avocado, tomato and cheese too. I cut the filet into 4 smaller pieces. Place fish in taco shell and add you toppings! Yum. They are SO good. We just had them with chips and salso, but you could serve them with rice, beans, etc...whatever you're family likes.

What are your favorite go-to meals from Costo ingredients? If you've blogged about them, leave the link in your comment. I need more ideas!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Hi there! Happy Wednesday to you! I'm on vacation in San Diego this week and took a lot of yarn and crochet hooks with me! I've already started working on my fall inventory of crochet items.

Here is the new headband I'm working on!

So cute right?! I just love it! It's nice and wide to tame your mane and the gather in the front adds the perfect amount of style! So comfy to wear too.

I got these new crochet hooks online and I really love them! They are the Susan Bates Alluminum hooks with a bamboo handle. Really comfortable to hold. My wrists were getting achy and so far when I use these hooks, I feel great! Great deal on them HERE. They have them at JoAnns but don't carry all the sizes.

I will have the Turbands available in TONS of colors and will likely add a version with a fabric center like I do with my Bun Bows.

"Bun Bow"

Look for these and some other fun crochet goodness in the shop in September! Have a happy day!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Hi friends! It's time for another edition of Made With Love! Thanks so much for linking up all your crafty goodness! You all are so inspiring!

Last week's most clicked link was...

This fun crochet basket linked up by Claireabellemakes! It's made from tshirt yarn! So cute!!! I need to get some of that!

Oh and on Wednesday I'm going to give you a sneak peek at a new crochet item coming to my shop and handmade boutiques in the fall. Super cute stuff friends!

Alright party people...are you ready for this week's link up???

Let’s get to it! I'll be featuring
my favorite links on the Facebook Fan Page throughout the week! Are you a
fan? I also try to Pin my favorites to Pinterest. The top clicked link will be featured during next weeks party!

{Just a few party guidelines}

Link up your crafts, recipes, home decor....anything that has been made by you! {Multiple links to different posts are fine}

Link back here by grabbing
the super cute button on my sidebar and posting it either in your post
or somewhere on your blog to let others know you've joined the party!

If you see something you like, click on it and go leave them a comment. Everyone loves comments!

Lastly, feel free to help me
spread the word about Made with Love Monday! Follow me on Twitter {just
click on my little Twitter button} and tweet about the party. Make sure to @ tag me so I can RT you!

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Hey there! I'm the Guest Poster over at Sew Caroline today as part of her "How Does It Sew" series! I've been following this series all summer and it's been GREAT! New sewers often get intimidating by patterns, but Caroline has been reviewing all types of sewing patterns from bags to dresses and assuring everyone that they can be simple and fun to follow.